Baseball has taught Drew Hull a lot.

Over the past 15 years, he’s watched his two sons (now 21 and 19) grow up playing baseball — at their alma mater, Shawnee Mission East High School, and for different club teams across the metro area.

“We’ve been up to our ears in youth baseball for the last handful of years,” Hull said. “Baseball’s been just a tremendous part of their lives and their development.”

One big takeaway from Hull’s experience stood out to him as he watched his kids and other players grow up. A player would graduate or switch positions on the field, and their glove would get shelved or replaced — often before it needed to be.

“Unlike a lot of equipment that just deteriorates over time, a really nice quality glove often gets better with age,” Hull said. “They’re made with high quality leather and made to last for years. Oftentimes they only get used for a couple of years, and they have a lot of life left.”

So Hull decided to do something about that. He recently launched Next Chapter Gloves, a business that buys used baseball gloves and repurposes them for their next player.

Next Chapter Gloves offers used, restored gloves

Next Chapter Gloves offers gloves in a variety of sizes and colors, and for many different positions.

Most of the buying and selling happens on the Next Chapter Gloves website, though Hull and his collection of gloves have made recent appearances at baseball tournaments in the area.

People looking to sell their gloves can do so by filling out a form on the website.

Once Hull gets the glove, he starts the restoration process — which involves either a basic cleaning or some restitching or replacing of leather, depending on its condition.

“These are gloves that are made with premium, high-quality leather that will last for many years,” he said. “We’re focused on finding those, buying them, and making sure that they get cleaned up and back back out onto the field with that next player.”

Each glove’s story gets to live on

Hull knows firsthand how meaningful a baseball glove can be to the person who uses it.

“My mom would tell you that when they first signed me up for baseball at 6 years old and got me a glove, I slept with that glove for weeks,” he said. “This is not just a hunk of leather that somebody used. There’s some memories in there.”

It’s that sense of nostalgia that Hull wants to see passed on when a glove moves from one hand to another. As such, when someone sells a glove, he asks for a bit of personal history about where it’s been (how old the player was, where and for how long they used it).

Whatever people are willing to share, he includes in the glove’s description online.

“A glove kind of becomes an extension of the player, and capturing that story and having it stay with the glove to the next player is something I just think is unique,” Hull said. “It’s a little different, and it’s important to me.”

There’s a benefit to the buyer, Hull said, in terms of knowing the glove they’re purchasing has been well-loved. But there’s also something in it for the seller.

Not only does Hull ask for some backstory from the sellers to benefit the buyers; he also likes to ask buyers about who will be using the glove next. The type of stories he gets back add a personal touch — including one grandfather who recently bought a broken-in glove to play baseball with his grandson, who has a rare disease that makes it difficult to handle a brand new, stiff glove.

“I think that will make it easier for people who are maybe attached to that glove to say, OK, this is the right person to to sell this glove or to pass it along to,” he said. “There’s something more valuable to him than probably just the money of selling it to me. To know that I’m going to capture that story and pass it along to the next player, and there’s going to be some youth player who’s going to be so excited to have that glove.”

The name of the business has a dual meaning

Though the gloves themselves have more life left in them, Hull said, Next Chapter Gloves is about more than that.

It’s a “next chapter” for him too. As an “empty nester” after his sons graduated and moved on from baseball, Hull was looking for something new to pour his time and effort into.

“To me, baseball is a very nostalgic sport,” he said. “I’ve found that really, baseball is one of those sports that teaches you a lot about life.”

In getting Next Chapter Gloves up off the ground, Hull said, it’s become clear that he’s not the only baseball parent who feels that way.

“I think that there is potential that we look back on this in a few years’ time — two to three years’ time — and say, I can’t believe that this wasn’t more commonplace,” he said. “That’s what I think excites me the most.”

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